Small, But Oh So Pestiferous Flea

July 5, 1986

HAS THERE been a landing of an alien spaceship with small, hopping creatures?

I shouldn't be so difficult -- a flea, after all, is so minute, but when they gang up and jump from all directions, bite fast and jump off again, it's a takeover. If the house weren't cemented down to the foundation, I have a feeling there are enough fleas to lift and walk the house into the sunset.

If it isn't roaches, it's fleas. The world belongs to the lower order.

Brains in the long run don't count. We humans invent some new chemicals to kill. The bug just adjusts, and there goes our brain work to counter bugs. There are ''roach motel'' traps, and screens were invented to keep out mosquitoes and flies, but what of the flea? He comes in on a Trojan house, a dog or cat. Once in, even a carpet is a hiding place.

You can't step on them to squash. You can't slap as they land on your arm. They seem to have no boundary. They have us. They even have us give their namesake to some of our markets.